Method of and apparatus for treating fruit and other articles



May 28, 1935. E M BRQGDEN 2,003,275

METHOD OF AND AFBARATUS FOR TREATING FRUIT AND OTHER ARTICLES Filed sept. 2, 195; 3 sheets-sheet 1 '25 M 214 26;# 27 10 L: f n M uw May 28, 1935. E. M. BROGDEN METHOD OF AND APPARTUS FOR TREATING FRUIT AND OTHER ARTICLES Filedsept. 2, 1951 s Sheets-Sheena 7 6 M 3 3 0 4 3 We 4 ,W o d 0 u V @i D J ....Hmm 4 y. A. .w a w v y, 18 3 /M T ,6m y ,d M ..-ZLE m 4 |l....l|| Q35, /J 0 3 d M o May 2s, 1935. E. MBROGDEN 2,003,275

METHOD OF AND'APPARATUS FOR TREA'IING FRUIT AND OTHER ARTICLES Filed Sept. 2, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Erlzas M Brogdcru- Patented \May 28, 1935 IWETHQDl 0F AND' APPARATUS FOR TREAT- ING lRUII'XANI)y OTHER Ernest.M.` Broggden, Pomona Calif. assigner to, Brogdex Company, Winter4 Haven, If`,la.arcor poration. of' Florida Application September 2, 1931, Serial No..5`60,8161

11 Claims.. (Cl. 14K- 193) This invention relates to methods of' and apparatus for treating fruit and; otherI articles' for the purpose of polishing their outer surfaces.

Proper preparation of freshfruit forV market z requires such treatment as will' retain`the fruitin sound, plump conditionl and also in attractive appearance, until it is marketed. Sound condition of fruit, such as oranges, Vis frequently ensured by applying certain mold-inhibiting agents, like borax. To maintain plumpness it has Abeen customary togive fruit, especially citrus fruits,

such. as oranges, a coating of parain wax or the like tov reduce withering and shrinkage Although this coating is very thin it tends togive r the fruit a dull; lifeless appearance, which, while not detracting from the intrinsic quality of' the furit, very materially lowersY the price at which it may be sold.

The principal object of thepresent inventionl is to provide a method and apparatus by which fruit, such as oranges' and' otherv articles may be given a permanent high polish orfshine.

While the method and apparatus forming the subject-matter of this invention have-beenr developed more particularly for the treatment of parafiinedf citrus fruits, such methodfandyor apparatus are adapted' for polishing notV only unparafned citrus fruits, but alsoy other fruits, suchas apples, whetherparained or not, as wellH asY avariety of other articles, not included within the term fruit even in its broadest sense.

lFor the sakey of a concrete' example whereby the principles of the invention lmay be illustrated and explained, reference will be madehereinafter more particularly with reference tothe-treatment of citrus fruit, especially orangesV which have been' coated withk a thin lm ofparalfin-'wax'.

Unparafiined fruit isreadily polished butv after a fewdays the fruit shrinks and Withersv and the polishV disappears in proportion tothe shrinkage; Parailined fruit is much more diihcult to shine, but once a shine has been produced it' is relatively permanent as the tendencyl to shrink has been largely eliminated.

In attempting to polish parained' fruit it; was found that a relatively slowmoving brush surface has little effect and that it wasd'esirable to use polishing elements of the buing wheel type in which polishing is accomplished bymeans o f i a plurality of limpA members extendedV radially are necessary. Highspeed' bufilngwheels or cylinders, however, haveI a tendencyto seize or hlt thef fruit so hard' that it is knocked about and, in some cases; driven out-ofthe machine. This is especially theY case where-the fruit is of varying sizes'othat' the buier has to-be set low to polish the small fruit with the result that. it tends to hit the large-fruit unduly-hard( Moreover, rough skinned fruit like oranges is much moreV apt to be thrown out of the machine than a smooth, slickskinned fruit, such asan apple.

I have found that satisfactoryv results are obtained byusingf gravity to press the fruit against the-buffers and to automaticallyregulatethe extent to which the buffers cont-act therewith so that allthe fruit, irrespective of size; will receive the proper amount off bufngf orrubbing. This may conveniently be accomplished byl providing a fruit supporting surface beneath the buffer and upwardly' sloping around one side thereof; the radial space` between the-periphery of Vthe buffer and the supporting surface increasing from an amount less than the diameter of the smallest fruit to be polished' to an amount greatergthan the diameter ofV the largest fruit. The direction of` rotation off the buffer is- "from the point of Y minimum radial space to the point of maximum radial space, so that *gravity causes the fruit pushed upwardly over said surfacev bythe buiier to returnforfurther contact and polishing action thereby. 'I-'hesmallerthe-frultthe further it will moveunder the bufferbefore engagement therewith and hence when there are a plurality of rowsoffruit'in the apparatus and it' is usually desirabletohavef 2, 3fA oreven Li'of 'such rows,V there is a sorting or classification of the fruit according'to size. 1 Y

In addition to controlling the'movement ofP the fruit to and fromV the buffer, two other movements are provided for; iirst', movementv of the Afruit from one end of the buffer-to theother, and,

second, a turning or rotary' movement of the fruit ineveryl conceivabledirection so as to cause each part of; thesurface thereofl tocontact withI the buffer;

Longitudinal movement of the fruit throughthe machine maybe broughtzabout by inclining the buffer and its cooperating fruit supporting sur'- face in the direction it is desired that the fruit should* move. It is advantageous, however, to employ more positive meansof advancingthe fruit, such as a conveyor belt of canvas orthe like, which forms-thel'owerpart ofthe `fruit supportingsurface. As` someY of the fruit, especially the larger sizes; may be oi thep conveyor for all on the latter, I find that this turning or irregularrotary movement is much enhanced if the edge of the conveyor on the finger side is scalloped. In fact, when using such a scalloped-edged conveyor there is suiciently positive contact Vwith the fruit to render the use of the above described lateral lingers unnecessary.

Cloth buiiing wheels Wear rapidly and while their life may be increased to a considerable extent by the use of special cloths, such as that known in the trade as Piquot sheeting,the wear soon reduces the effective diameter of the buffers. A further object of my invention, therefore, is to provide means for compensating for this wear. In making such compensation, it is desirable that the distance between the ends of the cloth strips and the supporting means therefor` on the rbuffer cylinder should not be decreasedA since that distance has an important bearing on the resistance of the buffer, and the strength of the blows given the fruit thereby. Various means may be used for this purpose although the one I prefer consists of a bufng wheel provided witha series of bars around each of which the center or one end of each of a plurality of cloth strips is wound. As wear occurs these bars are given a quarter or half turn thereby unwinding or releasing say 1/2 inch to 1 inch of each of the strips.

In carrying out the polishing'of fruit by my invention various formsV of apparatus may be employed. Certain forms which have given satisfactory results are shown, by way of example, in

' the accompanying drawings wherein:-

Figure 1 is a plan view of an apparatus embodying the principles of the present invention.

Figure 2 is an end view showing the receiving end of the same.

Figure 3 is an end view showing the delivery end of the same. A

Figure 4 is a plan view of a part of one end of one form `of buffer construction.

Figure 5 is a section on the line 5 5 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a detail fragmentary sectional View on the line 6--6 of Figure '7, showing a further form of buffer construction.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view on the line 1-1 of Figure.

Figures 8 and 9 are end views of still further forms of buffer construction.

In the drawings only the polishing apparatus is shown since the apparatus by which the fruit may be treated prior to polishing with mold-inhibiting-agents and parafn or the like to retard withering, form no part of the/present invention.

As shown, the fruit polishing apparatusrcornprises a frame I0, supporting, in the example illustrated, a pair of buffer cylinders II mounted on shafts I2 journalled in bearings I2a secured to said frame. Beneath each of these buffer cylinders is a canvas conveyor belt I3, carried at its ends by pulleys I4mounted on shafts I4, each pulley being preferably mountedv on a separate l shaft to permit independent longitudinalV adjustment of belts I3. Only one set of pulleys I4 and their supporting shafts I4a can be seen (Fig. 2) the other set being hidden from view (Fig. 1) under cross piece I a and the inner ends of buffer cylinders II.

Fruit is delivered to these two conveyor belts over an inclined board, chute, or conveyor (not shown) adapted to rest on cross-piece 82 and is discharged from such belts onto a conveyor belt I arranged transversely across the ends of the belts I3. This conveyor belt I5 is supported by pulleys IB mounted on shafts I1, as shown in Figure 3.

The buffer shafts and the conveyors I3 and I5 are driven from a motor I8, which drives a countershaft I9 by a belt 20 and pulleys 2l and 22. At the discharge end of the apparatus, this countershaft is provided with a pulley 23 which drives a belt 24 passing over a pulley 25 on one buffer shaft, under a pulley 2G on the other buffer shaft, and around a vertically adjustable idler pulley 21, which holds the belt in engagement with the. pulley 26. (See Figs. 1 and 3.) As belt 24 passes over pulley 25 and under pulley 26 the buifer shafts are rotated in opposite directions.

The two longitudinal conveyors I3 vand the transverse conveyor I5 are driven from a second countershaft 28, connected to the first countershaft I9 by pulley 29, belt 30 and pulley 3I (See Fig. l.) On this second countershaft is a bevel gear 32, in mesh with a bevel gear-33 on one end of a cross-shaft 34, the latter carrying at its opposite end a sprocket wheel 35. This sprocket is connectedby a chain 36 to a sprocket 31, mounted on one end of an overhead cross-shaft 38. The latter shaft in turn drives two shafts |43, which carry the pair of pulleys I4, supporting Athe inner ends of the longitudinal conveyors I3, by sprockets 39, chains 40 and sprockets on shafts Illa, not

shown.

The transverse discharge conveyor belt I5 is driven from the second coun-tershaft 28 by means of a sprocket 4I there-on, connected by a chain 42 to a sprocket 43 on a third countershaft 44. (Fig. 3 The latter by sprockets 45, 45 and chain 41, drives one of the shafts I1 and the pulleys I6 which support the transverse conveyor belt I 5.

The direction of rotation of the Various pulleys and sprockets is shown by arrows, as is also the direction of movement ofthe conveyor belts. The conveyor belts I3 and I5 are preferably mounted on an auxiliary frame 83 carried by and vertically adjustable with respect to the main frame I0 of the apparatus by means of adjusting screws or similar adjusting means 84. The buffers are mounted on the main frame I 0 so that by adjusting the position of the auxiliary frame 83, the distance betweenthe buffers and the conveyors I3 maybe varied as desired, and thus the apparatus can be adjusted to take care of fruit of different sizes and to compensate for wear or shortening of the polishing cloths. The driving mechanism for the conveyor belts is so arranged that the auxiliary frame may be adjusted without adjusting such driving mechanism.

VAs previously pointed out, one of the features of the invention is the provision of a fruit supporting surface or runway beneath each buffer and upwardly sloping around one side thereof, the radial space between the periphery of the buffer and the supporting surface increasing from anamount less than the diameter of the smallest fruit to be polished to an amount greater than the diameter of the largest fruit. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the bottom portion of each fruit :nooners:

suppqrting surface or runwayis formedgby-onezof. the conveyor belts; Iilf,V thea. upper rum or night.: of Whichris; supported inl atrough-.shapedor curved runway 85 .(seeEig; 29.; which isl curved on an are ofV larger1 radius: than, but; concentric withy the. circumference; of the.L cooperating. buffer,r the? upper run.v of; each; conveyory taking the same. curved crossfsection. as itsgsupportingrunway.

The; buiers; are arranged: tat-urn sofas tothmw the. fruit. towardi they sidesof: the apparatus and;

hence. theA outside; portion `of: :each runway is: formed asr. an inclined planetsurfaceforgboard 49. which slopestupwardlyandi.outwardly away from thebuiiingfl cylinder so thatfruit`v may rollup this i inclined surfaceorboardi under theraction of;v the bulingcylinder. To prevent. such. fruit from r,oll. ing over thefupner edge,boar.d 49.*isprovided1with; an.mwardlyfprojeotingguardi., Adivision board. or." guard u. separates; the. two. runways, and; prevents; fruit; from getting- Qut; on, that; side. This arrangementen supporting the. fruit not. only. automatically.` regulates the extent to. which, the buifersg. contact. witnsaid; imtespective oI sise,` but; the tendency' on the high speedbuiers.

f# to force the fruit oiY the belts and up the'sides of` the.. in clmes. causes. a. constant turning 0f the fruit Withf the. resulttharall surfaces; thereof fare. thoroughly'buied; or rubbed. This turning mfovc.- ment ofthe fruit is, also aided by pusher fingers-5l,v

:l Securedte. theeutermargnal. portionsor edges of the belts I3. These pusher. fingers, which are made of leatherorf other flexible material, extend laterally.- from belts; I3 so.- that they travel. alongthe-lower portions of boards; 49A and engage and push fruit. along said boards. The outer marginal edgesof. belts I 3 arealsoprevided withA curVedcut-Qut portions o1.' scallopsISa,` as shown,- in Fig, l, to further enhance the@ turning movement of theffruit. as, it goes through the apparatus. ,Thel features just describedl cooperate to, keep the. fruit constantly turning, and@ mixing; aroundy during its entire travelthrough the ap-y paratus.. so thatwhenit has reachedthe end` ofits travel every; spot, on, itsy surface has. been,

-. thoroughly. buiedor, rubbed.r

As previouslyv pointedput. the Successful Operation of the. machine depen-,dsl largely-0.1.1 maintaining proper spacing betweenthe periphery' et the rotating buffers-and the conveyors I3; and inclined boards 49.y This involves .compensatinggfor the reduction in the diameter of the buffersrdueV to Wear; Raising; the auxiliary-frame 8,3-, carrying the fruit supportingz GDIlveyors I3, andthe inclined boards, up toward. the buffers, as previf z ously described,compensatesfora certanamount members extendedy radially outwards` under the centrifugal'force produced by the rotation of such bullng element. As already pointed outthe limp members,l usually c1oth,.we,ar rapidly at the. ends and therefore, means for compensating for 'such Wear hai/erheen provided.` This may be accom. plished, in various Ways` and f oury suitable, forms of butler. construction. are` shown in Figs. il to 9. In each case the bufling.` clothsorthe;i like may be exten-ded ontwardly.y so. thatthe effective. diameter on the. rotating. bu'zermay beimaintained. more or lessconstant.,v i

Perhaps. themostcomzenient and#v universally.. satisfactoryrof the forfrns illusIirated` is that shown in Figures. 4 and?v 5i. In: this. case, agplate... or' spider IIl4 is'mQuntedv on` eachi end=of the. buffer: shaft? I2y and secured' theretor byai set: screwfxou the like, said platey being formedfwith a, pluralityycon'- venientlyr. three, slots '.I'I` for the. reception of: the squared' endslzfofrsteelzbans 3. Thesebars have a series off apertures. tftherealong through which strips. c5. of buiingf clpthorotherbuing. mediumA are passed; asi showni in 5.. The puffing; medium is.. preferablyrmade. ofv` a. good gradeA of sheeting, wha-tis known in. the. trade as liquot` sheeting haying'been'. found very: satisfactory in practice, butganyfsuitablebumng medium suchas. canvas, strings, heavy condanna wires. etc. may; be. used. Bars. 63. are. provided adjacent their ends with holes Iftthrough` which; screws- 6 4.E- are passed to clamp.- thefends; of the bars. in. the. slots 6I of the platesor-spidersi.

The: ends oi each; of: theibuingy strips. .6.5, are passed through apertures; a. pair osteel guides. 66 attached bwscrews'; 61l to4 lugs T4 on the plate 60 on each side of theslut16l.. Theaper-y turesfin theseguidesane staggered so astos distribute vthe. endsof thebulns; stripssubstantially uniformly alongfthebuffers. When the buingcylinderl is. rota-,todi the. freecends.; of, the.y bunng strips'v extending; heyonfk theiguidesi 6.6- are thrown radiallyfoutwards by centrifugal force. The. polishing,ispaccomplisheddargely by the; tips of these strips so that; the latter wear' 'away with use.

For. satisfactory'eneraton, the; eiective diameter v of thejbuiiing: cylinder: as: awbole. should not vary greatly. Hence, whenfthe, tipsgoi the cloths Wear` down the cloths musteithel: be.: replaced or. moved outwards through., the.; guides. 66- to compensate for such wear.. The,t mest convenient method is to. uselong buingclot'hfstrinsiand windv the centerfportion;aroundthebar63.1intil the ends project only the; .desireddistancefromi the. guides 66. Then,;as the tipsv of; the; Cloths, Wear. down, the center portion isunwoundto compensate for such Wear. To turn, the; bar 63; to=unwind the bufng cloths, al1-that, isnecessary is to remove thescrews 64a, liftthe bar: 63; clear of theislots 6I, give it a quarter, ha.lfor other desired turn, then.' drop itA back into lthe.;sluts,and.replace the screws.

Theiorm of construction showninFigs. 6` andr is very similar to that, j ust; described. Inthis case, hoyveven the bar 6,8WhichV correspondsy to the bar 6.3,v of'Figs; Land 5,Yis,not apertured but is cut away between its en dsanda clamping bar B9. is securedV theretmbiA screws 10,thereby gripping theistrips 'II ot b uing; clothi placed therebetween. SimilarlyA the guides, arefformed of, pairsef steel strips I2 clamped together by screws? 'I3 to hold theA cloth passed. therebetween in adjusted posi-` tion.

In the two formsot construction just described both ends of, the; fabric; are,11sedv for bui-ling pur-` posesand adjustment topwear is, provided by un- Windingl the.- center.: part; of; .theclothstrips. A diiTerent-method of,adi11stment; is used 'in the modications shown,` in .Eigs, 8`; and\ 9. Here, only Gili one end, ofV the; clotnstripsgareused.for bung purposesthe other-endbeing used merely as reserve material; to` allowyt-he end used for bufng "u to be extended to. compensate fonwean. lnFig. 8, 15 indicatesa metalytube: against.- thev outer face of which metal strips 16, most advantageously of arcuate or curved cross-sectiom'.arefclamped by holtsfI-Tt Tilbfl toibesupponted and driven by stub shafts (not shown) which extend into the ends thereof for a short distance. One or both ends of the tube -15 are provi-ded with a slot or keyway 'l5a to receive akey or keys carried by one or both of the steel shafts. One of the stub shafts may be slidably mounted in its bearing to permit the tube 4l5 to be easily mounted thereon. The cloth buii'ing strips 'I8 pass between the tube 15 and the metal strips 16 and are securely held in place thereby. When the bufling strips are worn down the bolts 11 are loosened, the buffing strips pulled out to the desired extent and the'bolts tightened once more.

The same general underlying principles are used in the modification shown 'in' Fig. 9. `In this case, however, a bar or tube 80 having plane surfaces or faces 8l)a is used in place of a round tube and the cloth buiiing strips 19 are clamped thereto by clamping strips or cleats 8| held in place by screws or similar fastening means Sla. If desired, the faces 8!)a can be provided wtih grooves (not shown) to receive the clamping strips B I If desired, the bufiing clothskor strips 19 could be wound around the strips 8l, as in Figs. 4 7, so that both ends could be used for .bufflng, instead of only one, as shown.

The cloths or` other buiiing medium may be treated to'reduce wear as, for example, by dipping them into a 1% solution of rubber in benzol.

The apparatus above described is adapted for polishing or rubbingfruit'of all kinds, as well as other articles so 'long' as such articles are of a generally spherical character. For example, the apparatus may be used for removing the fuzz from peaches, cleaning and shining walnuts, etc. In the latter case a fine wire cloth may be used in place of the Piquot sheeting employed for polishing oranges and similar fruit.

While the apparatus thus Vhas a wide range of utility, the character of the articles treated should be 'taken into' account in its operation. Oranges have a rough skin and hence require high buffer speeds'andlonger time of treatment than smooth; slick skinned fruit, like apples. Thus it has been found that for oranges a suitable buffer speed, for an l1 inch diameter buffer,

. has been found satisfactory. These times and speeds of rotation,'which are given merely by way of example, may be Varied in practice, and it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular details given.

Similarly, the size of the apparatus and the distance between the buffers and the conveyors may vary. For the ordinary run of oranges it has been found that excellent results are obtained with the conveyor belts about 1%, inches below the ends of the bufiing cloths. Y

It will also Vbev understood that numerous changes'may be made in the design of the apparatus without departing from the principles of the invention. Thus the passage of the fruit or the like through the machine may be brought about by gravity instead of by conveyors, the buffers and fruit supporting surfaces being inclined downwardly in the direction of movement desired in order to produce this result. A tworunway apparatus has been illustrated and described, but obviouslyone or more runways may be used.

l. A machine for polishing fruit and the like comprising a substantially horizontal elongated rotary polishing element having a plurality of limp members along its length adapted to extend radially outward under the centrifugal force produced by the rotation of said element to form the polishing face of said element, a brushless fruit-supporting surface having a portion beneath and extending axially of said element and transversely curved on an arc concentric with said element and another portion upwardly'and outwardly inclined on the upward-run side of said polishing element, one of said surface portions being fixed and the other movable in a. direction feeding fruit-axially of said polishing element and both of said surface portions cooperating to provide a fruit runway having an unobstructed space betweenthe polishing face of said element and said surface of radial extent increasing upwardly of said runway whereby fruit impacted by said polishing element is free to move Vupwardly over said surface under the force of said impact and returns by gravity downwardly over said surface for further contact with said polishing element and polishing action thereby. f Y

2. A machine for polishing fruit and the like as dened in claim l and in 4which that portion of the fruit-supporting surface which lies beneath the polishing element comprises an endless conveyor traveling in a direction parallel to the axis of the polishing element.

3. A machine for polishing fruitY and the like comprising a substantiallyhorizontal elongated rotary polishing element, fruit-feeding means presenting two side-by-side fruit-supporting surfaces extending axially of said polishing element and having such transverse surface contour and being so disposed beneath and on the upward-run side of said element asV to form a` fruit runway having a spacing of the fruit-supporting surfaces from the periphery of said element increasing upwardly of said runway on the upward-run side of said element, one of said surfaces being arranged to move axially of said element in the operation of said fruit feeding means and the other being fixed, and said moving surface having a scalloped side edge adjoining said fixed surface and formed to be engaged by fruit when rolling fromv said fixed surface onto said moving surface and thereby to vary the turning movements of said fruit. y 4. A machine for polishing fruit and the like comprising a rotary polishing element, av fruitsupporting surface operatively adjacent said element for feeding fruit axially of said element, said fruit-supporting surface comprising a fixed portion and a portion movable in a direction parallel to the axis of said polishing element and fingers secured to said movable portion and extending over said fixed portion.

5. A machine for polishing fruit and the like comprising a substantially horizontal elongated rotary. polishing element, rfruit-feeding means presenting two side-by-side fruit-supporting surfaces extending axially of said polishing element and havingsuch transverse surface contour and being so disposed beneath and on one side of said element as to form a fruit runway havinga spacing of the fruitsupporting surfaces from the periphery of said element increasing upwardly of said runway on the upward-runrside of said element, one of said' surfaces being arranged to move axially of said element in the operation of said fruit feeding means and theother being fixed. and fingers secured to said moving surface and extending laterally therefrom over said fixed surface.

6. A machine of polishing fruit or the like comprising a substantially horizontal elongated rotary polishing element having limp polishing members adapted to extend radially outwards under the centrifugal force produced by the rotation of said element to form the polishing face of said element, an endless fruit conveyor of canvas or the like disposed axially of and beneath said polishing element and having a transverse contour complementary to the transverse contour of the polishing face of said polishing element, and a fixed fruit-supporting surface laterally adjacent said conveyor and upwardly and outwardly inclined therefrom on the upwardrun of said polisher element to form with said conveyor a runway for fruit.

7. A machine for polishing fruit and the like as defined in claim 6, and in which said conveyor is provided with fingers secured thereto and, extending laterally therefrom over said fixed fruit-supporting surface.

8. A machine for polishing fruit and the like as defined in claim 6 and in which said conveyor is provided with a scalloped edge on the side adjoining said fixed fruit-supporting surface and formed to be engaged by fruit when rolling from said fixed surface onto said conveyor and thereby to vary the turning movements of said fruit.

9. A machine for polishing fruit and the like comprising a rotary polishing element having its axis of rotation nearer to the horizontal than the vertical, a traveling fruit conveyor disposed beneath and moving axially of said polishing element, presenting a brushless fruit-supporting surface having a transverse curvature complementary to the opposed face of said element and a longitudinal side edge on the upward-run side of said polishing element substantially below the crown of said element, and a fixed structural element presenting a stationary and brushless fruitengaging surface on the upward-run side of said polishing element immediately adjacent and ex- Y polishing element is free to move upwardly over` said surfaces of said runway under the force of said impact and returns by gravity downwardly over said surfaces for further contact with said polishing element and polishing action thereby.

10. A machine for polishing fruit and the like as defined in claim 9 and in which the polishing face of said polishing element is of cylindrical contour, the transverse curvature of said conveyor is onV an arc of a circle having its center in the axis of said polishing element, and said stationary fruit-engaging surface is a plane surface.

11. A machine for polishing fruit and the like as defined in claim 9 and further characterizedV lby said side edge of said conveyor having segmental cut-outs to form a scalloped edge adapted to be engaged by fruit rolling from said stationary surface onto said conveyor and thereby to vary the turning movements Vof said fruit.

ERNEST M. BROGDEN. 

